CD Projekt Red have announced that The Witcher 4 is set for release in 2028, kicking off a new The Witcher trilogy. The studio also publicly confirmed that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt expansion Songs of the Past will feature at Gamescom this week, and can be considered a bit of a bridge to between the two sagas.
Joint CEO Michał Nowakowski outlined this in a special video, detailing that The Witcher 4 will not be at Gamescom, but that Songs of the Past will be to give “a taste of its dark story”.
“Our team here at CD Projekt Red HQ is hard at work on a brand new saga, one with Siri at the helm. We have more than 500 incredibly talented developers working to create something truly special for you. The Witcher 4 features a huge and immersive open world, intense and action-packed gameplay, and a deep, impactful story that we hope will stay with you for a long time. Simply put, this is our biggest, boldest, and most ambitious game to date.
“Now I know you’re eager to learn when it’s coming. That’s the question we’re hearing from you all the time. So while we’re not showing The Witcher 4 at the event, and we’re not ready to share an exact date, I can tell you this: The Witcher 4 is targeting a 2028 release window.
“I know it’s a bit of a wait and you’d love to play it sooner, but let the team cook. It will be worth the wait. Until then, there will be plenty more of The Witcher to come, including Songs of the Past when it launches in 2027. And you can be sure gamescom is also in our plans for the coming years.”
Having been teased under the codename Polaris back in March 2022 – CDPR necessarily has to reveal some details about its work for investors – The Witcher 4 (or whatever it will end up being called) was then fully revealed at the end of 2024, shortly after having gone into full production.
This game, and the trilogy that aims to follow on a three year cadence, will feature Ciri as the protagonist as opposed to Geralt. A further tech demo was released last summer, as CDPR showcased their work in adapting to using Unreal Engine for their games instead of the in-house RED engine.
But just because Ciri is coming to lead the adventures doesn’t mean that there’s nothing left for Geralt to do. CDPR is working in partnership with Fool’s Theory, the studio of ex-CDPR and The Witcher 3 devs who are working on a remake of the original The Witcher, as well as the upcoming The Witcher 3 expansion, Songs of the Past.
CDPR are still being fairly tight-lipped about Songs of the Past, teasing the sword that Geralt holds in the artwork as being significant to the story, but we can expect them to show more at Gamescom.
Nowakowski said, “It is, in a way, a prologue, although it’s not a prologue in a verbatim way of [being] a prologue for the actual The Witcher 4. Yes, you can look at it as it’s a way to maintain certain chatter on The Witcher 3. All of those are side effects, additional side effects. The core thing for us, from our perspective, is really delivering a high-quality, fun experience to the existing fans of The Witcher.”
So, keep your eyes peeled during Opening Night Live, and also for further videos, previews and more coming out of the show.
